Smoking and risk of myocardial infarction

BMJ 1998;317:1017 ( 10 October )

Letters

Smoking and risk of myocardial infarction

Statistical and biological interactions should not be confused

Studying relative risk is not enough

Smoking is a feminist issue

Authors' reply

Statistical and biological interactions should not be confused

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Prescott et al report that smoking increases the risk of myocardial infarction significantly more in women (relativerisk 2.24) than in men (relative risk 1.43).¹ Interactionsbetween components of smoke and hormonal factors weresuspected.

Readers may conclude from this study that men and women do not differ at all. On the basis of data on the prevalence of smoking(table 2 in Prescott et al's paper) and from reported relativerisks, we can calculate that in women the risk of developing myocardialinfarction during follow up is 5.88% (380/6461) in smokers and2.63% (132/5011) in non-smokers; in men, the risk is 10.62% (902/8490)in smokers and 7.38% (349/4701) in non-smokers. These are bestestimates based on published data; the figures would change slightlyif former smokers were removed from the group of non-smokers.The difference that is attributable to smoking was therefore 3.25%in women and 3.24% in . . . [Full text of this article]

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Smoking and risk of myocardial infarction in women and men: longitudinal population study: Eva Prescott, Merete Hippe, Peter Schnohr, Hans Ole Hein, and Jørgen Vestbo
BMJ 1998 316: 1043-1047. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]